The team led by Flick begins the road to the dream of their fifth World Cup Title against the Japanese team trying to forget their disappointing performance in Russia 2018.
After two forgettable consecutive international tournaments, the four-time world champion, Germany, arrives in Qatar with the lesson learned, ready to fight again for the title with the coach Hansi Flick. he does it with a combination that mixes the experience of his old guard with the enormous ambition of young talents who succeed in the big European leagues. Opposite, the always dangerous Japan, with footballers who compete in the Old Continent, especially in Germany, dreams of overcoming the barrier of the round of 16. Both teams complete the Spanish group and, with the permission of Costa Rica, they will be the rivals of Luis Enrique’s pupils for a place in the knockout rounds.
How Germany arrives: Classified with solvency as first in Group J, with nine wins and a single defeat, Germany has left behind that very high level in recent months to land in Qatar with some problems. Their performance in the Nations League was disappointing and in the last friendly game, last week, they only beat weak Oman 1-0. Sané, one of his key pieces in attack, will not be there due to injury.
How Japan arrives: The Japanese team swept with a full of wins (eight) and 46 goals for only two against in their Asian Confederation group to win their place in the World Cup. And although Japan comes from losing a friendly against Canada, it has been competitive in recent months, beating the United States and drawing against Ecuador with footballers who shine in powerful championships such as the Bundesliga, LaLiga, the Premier or Ligue 1.
The duel of the game: All eyes will be on the immense emerging talent of Musiala, a midfielder promoted by Flick at Bayern Munich (17 caps with one goal and one assist), and at Kamada, who has showed his goalscoring facet at Eintracht and is a key player in Moriyasu’s eleven (23 games, seven goals and three assists with his team).
By Fernando Perez (Football Analyst, Spain)
Bengali